Bundesliga matchday 5 preview: Dortmund put their perfect start on the line against Bremen, Bayern go to Augsburg

Borussia Dortmund are the only side with four wins from four, and they open the round on Friday at home to Werder Bremen. Two points behind them, Bayern München go to FC Augsburg on Saturday afternoon, and SC Freiburg, level with Bayern on ten, are at home to FC Schalke 04 on Sunday. At the bottom, Borussia Mönchengladbach have lost all four and go to 1. FC Köln for the derby on Sunday under their new coach, Alexander Blessin.

Friday

Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen (18:30 UTC, Signal Iduna Park). Dortmund have conceded two goals in four matches and won 1–0 at Stuttgart last time out; Bremen, eighth on seven, came from a goal down at half-time to beat Augsburg 3–2. Dortmund are unbeaten in the last five meetings: 2–0 in Bremen in May, 3–0 here in January, 2–2 here in January 2025, 0–0 in Bremen in August 2024 and 2–1 there in March 2024. Sportschau reports that Schlotterbeck, injured on international duty, looks unlikely to play; for Bremen, goalkeeper Karl Hein is a doubt with a thigh bruise, and Skelly Alvero and Felix Agu are out with calf injuries, according to Radio Bremen.

Saturday

1899 Hoffenheim v Hamburger SV (13:30 UTC, PreZero Arena). Both have three points. Hoffenheim lost 3–1 at Paderborn; Hamburger SV beat Köln 2–1 for their first win, and those are their only two goals of the season, against 13 conceded. Hoffenheim won both meetings last season, 4–1 here in December and 2–1 in Hamburg in April.

FC Augsburg v Bayern München (13:30 UTC, WWK Arena). Bayern have scored 14 and conceded two, and beat Union Berlin 7–0; Augsburg, fourth on seven, lost 3–2 at Bremen after leading at half-time. Augsburg won the last meeting 2–1 in Munich in January; Bayern had won the four before it, including 3–2 and 3–1 here. Bundesliga.com lists Jamal Musiala, with a hamstring injury, as Bayern's only absentee.

FSV Mainz 05 v Bayer Leverkusen (13:30 UTC, MEWA Arena). Level on seven points: Mainz won 4–3 at Gladbach, Leverkusen beat RB Leipzig 2–0. Mainz have not beaten Leverkusen in the last five meetings — 1–1 in Leverkusen in February, 3–4 and 2–2 here, and two Leverkusen wins before that.

Union Berlin v SV Elversberg (13:30 UTC, An der Alten Försterei). Union Berlin are seventeenth with one point and have conceded 17, seven of them at Bayern; SV Elversberg, seventh on seven, drew 0–0 at Schalke. There is no previous meeting between them on record. Striker Andrej Ilic is back in training after weeks out but will still lack match practice, the rbb reports.

SC Paderborn 07 v VfB Stuttgart (13:30 UTC, Home Deluxe Arena). Paderborn, twelfth on four, beat Hoffenheim 3–1; Stuttgart, fifteenth on three, lost 1–0 at home to Dortmund. Their last meeting was a 2–1 Stuttgart win here in the cup in January 2023; in the Bundesliga in 2014–15 it was 0–0 in Stuttgart and 2–1 to Stuttgart here.

RB Leipzig v Eintracht Frankfurt (16:30 UTC, Red Bull Arena). RB Leipzig, ninth on six, lost 2–0 at Leverkusen; Eintracht Frankfurt, tenth on five, drew 2–2 with Freiburg. Leipzig won both meetings last season, 6–0 here in December and 3–1 in Frankfurt in April; Frankfurt won 4–0 at home in April 2025.

Sunday

1. FC Köln v Borussia Mönchengladbach (13:30 UTC, RheinEnergieStadion). Gladbach are bottom with no points and 16 goals conceded, after losing 4–3 at home to Mainz; Köln, thirteenth on four, lost 2–1 in Hamburg. The last meeting was 3–3 here in March; Gladbach won 3–1 at home in November. Blessin replaced Eugen Polanski at Gladbach; "derbies are something great", he said. Köln are without their strikers Dallinga, out for months with a cruciate ligament tear, and Ache, expected back in November, Sportschau reports.

SC Freiburg v FC Schalke 04 (15:30 UTC, Europa-Park Stadion). Freiburg are third and unbeaten, with twelve scored and three conceded, and drew 2–2 at Frankfurt; Schalke, eleventh on five, have scored three and conceded four. Freiburg won the last five meetings, from 2020 to 2023, without conceding: three 4–0s at home and two 2–0s in Gelsenkirchen.

The table before the round

#	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Borussia Dortmund	4	+7	12
2	Bayern München	4	+12	10
3	SC Freiburg	4	+9	10
4	FC Augsburg	4	+5	7
5	Bayer Leverkusen	4	+5	7
6	FSV Mainz 05	4	+4	7
7	SV Elversberg	4	+1	7
8	Werder Bremen	4	0	7
…
16	Hamburger SV	4	−11	3
17	Union Berlin	4	−13	1
18	Borussia Mönchengladbach	4	−10	0

Five clubs are on seven points, between fourth and eighth. Dortmund play first and can go five points clear on Friday night; Bayern and Freiburg can answer on Saturday and Sunday.

Numbers to know

• P. Schick, Y. Ebnoutalib, M. Olise, Y. Suzuki and P. Tietz have four league goals each.
• Dortmund, Bayern and Freiburg are the only unbeaten clubs; Gladbach the only one without a point.
• Union Berlin have conceded 17 goals in four matches, Gladbach 16 and Hamburg 13.
• Bayern have the best goal difference, +12, ahead of leaders Dortmund on +7.

The full round with kick-off times in your time zone is on the Bundesliga page.

Sources for the context: Bundesliga, Sportschau, Sportschau, Sportschau, Sportschau, Sportschau.